Blogs from Nelson Lakes National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

(Day 669 on the road)"Go big or go home". That was Lilia's motto when we sat down and studied the map of Nelson Lakes National Park. I had initially planned to do a four-day loop (up the Travers valley, over the saddle, and back via the Sabine valley). In the end, we opted for an additional two-day side trip and to take it a bit easier on the last two days, which pushed the total number of days to seven. So a week it was. And off we went. After the rather unspectacular Abel Tasman walk, we were in for a real treat: Wide valleys with mountains on both sides, grand vistas, empty huts in beautiful spots, crystal-clear rivers, blue lakes, easy to follow tracks, and, best of all, sunshine for the entire week. How lucky ... read more

Hey Hey, I hope this finds everyone well :) Sean and I have ventured up to the North Island now. We're currently in the Whakapapa Village near Mt Doom, for you Lord of the Rings fans. We're hoping to do a week long hike here (around Mt Tangariro and Mt Ruapehu) starting in the next day or two, but we'll see how the weather holds out. As for our last adventure, Sean and I were on the South Island in Nelson Lakes National Park doing the Travers-Sabine Circuit. We left Dunedin, stopping in Christchuch for dinner, and spent the night in the car in gorgeous Kaikoura. From there we drove through to St Arnaud and barely beat the sunset onto the track. The circuit consists of two valley walks with an alpine crossing in between. We ... read more

Nelson Lakes & Pupu Springs 31st Jan - 1st February 2009 Pupu Springs are very pure spring water pools which bubbled up in places under the water creating swirling sand known as 'dancing sand'. We had a lovely walk around the pools on a wonderfully hot day. The weather was scorching hot when we arrived at Rotoiti Lake, Nelson Lakes - 35 degrees. We headed straight for the lake shore, ran down the wooden jetty and jumped into the (very fresh!) lake. It was bliss. We spent the afternoon lazing on the lakeshore, swimming and watching various boats pull water-skiers around the lake. It's a shame there was no commercial waterskiing as I would have liked to do it. The next day was not so hot, so we headed off on a 'loopwalk' around the lake. ... read more

Wow, what a start to the South Island, and even the weather has been with us: Day one of the South Island Well following our crossing over the Cook Strait and through Queen Charlotte Sound we arrived in Picton. First consideration was the fact the wine had run out so it was of to a couple of wineries for the afternoon! We visited Saint Claire Winery first and had a spot of lunch, before a bit of tasting and the purchase of a couple of bottles of wine. We then went to a preserve shop and a chocolate factory/Shop for a bit more tasting and purchasing! We then went onto Fromm winery, again more tasting (by now Agatha was getting a bit giggly - keeping us amused!). Here we were able to go into where the ... read more